1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotating shearing device for cropping fast-running rolling stock and to a method for separating the front crop and the rear crop from the running rolling stock by the rotating shearing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rotating shearing device of the generic type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,640.
A further shearing device of this type is shown in DE-A 24 35 486, which also shows the conventional overall plant which consists of two shearing devices arranged one behind the other. The front crop is separated from the rolling stock by the front or first shearing device. After the rolling stock is run through, the rear crop is then separated by the second shearing device. Each of the guides arranged in front of the shearing devices is mounted pivotably, that is to say the end of the guide facing the shearing device is capable of being raised and lowered in relation to the respective fixedly arranged shearing device. The rolling stock can therefore be brought into the cutting range of the annular knives, for this purpose the guide arranged in front of the shearing device being pivoted upward.
Fixedly positioned guides are provided behind the shearing devices for receiving the front crop and rear crop, respectively.
The necessary use of two shearing devices, with all the associated guides, drives and controls, gives rise to very high plant costs which then, of course, also entail high operating and maintenance costs. Furthermore, these plants require a large amount of space.
An object of the present invention is to provide a shearing device with lower costs and reduced space requirements.
The object is achieved by a rotating shearing device for cropping fast-running rolling stock, in particular wire, with two axially cutting annular knives which rotate about their axes at the same rotational speed. The two axially cutting annular knives include end cutting edges directed toward one another which converge to the clearance required for separating the running stock during the cutting operation and lie in planes which are arranged at an acute angle to one another and intersect one another in a line. The rolling stock is guided toward the shearing device by a front guide and guided away from the shearing device by a rear guide. The front guide is pivotable to change the relative position between the rolling stock and the cutting body so that the rolling stock may be guided either through the space between the annular knives which is free for the cut-free passage of the rolling stock or into the wedge-shaped cutting region of the annular knives. The rear guide part arranged behind the shearing device is also pivotable between a lower end and upper end position.
According to the present invention, only one shearing device is used which carries out the separation of both the front crop and the rear crop. A front guide part and a rear guide part interact by different configurations depending on which part of the running stock, i.e., the front crop or the rear part, is being separated and correspondingly conveyed away. Furthermore, the respective positions of the annular knives in relation to one another also depends on which part of the running stop is to be separated.
Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.